Important information about some of the ingredients of Relenza
Relenza contains lactose and milk protein
Relenza contains a sugar called lactose, and may contain milk protein.
If you have an intolerance to lactose or any other sugars, or to milk protein:
Don’t use Relenza. Ask your doctor for advice about treating or preventing flu.

I need some help...
Quebec has announced that there will be a province-wide innoculation in the fall for H1N1. I (currently) am allergic to dairy and my brother is allergic to eggs. Which vaccines can we have?? Do you think they will be making another kind that doesn't have egg or dairy in it? I'm a tad worried because I know H1N1 is supposed to come back strong in the fall and ideally I would like to get the vaccine...

Relenza is not a vaccine, so that is not what you will be taking. It's a treatment for those who have the flu already, and can make symptoms milder or it is given to those at risk to try and lessen their chances of getting it. The government has got this drug on "standby" for health care professionals in the event of a Canadian pandemic - but oddly, only if they actually GET the flu, not to prevent it. It is a powder for inhalation, and while it is formulated with lactose, they cannot guarantee that it is milk-protein free. They are the same company that makes Advair diskus, which has the exact same warnings for milk-allergic people.

You won't know what the vaccine will contain until it is ready to go - it may contain egg. This will be announced when the vaccine is launched.

Gwen and Susan, thanks so much for looking into this. I see gelatin is in fact in Tamiflu
, since our son has needed epinephrine after previous vaccines due to gelatin I appreciate the heads up here. Another allergy tid-bit to store in my head in case ever needed!

Sick Kids in Toronto holds an annual seasonal flu clinic for egg allergic children. We went there 4 years ago. They will skin test you with the vaccine and then depending on the results there are a few options - get the vacine, get it in small doses or desensitize you to it. This is my understanding (and memory) of the options from our last visit. Many egg allergic people/children can get the vaccine with no reaction given the low amount of egg content. Of course the amount changes from year to year. There are options for egg allergic people. Talk to your doctor and allergist.

_________________13 year old daughter -- lives with life-threatening allergies to milk, tree nuts and peanuts; seasonal allergies (birch, maple, ragweed); pet allergies; asthma; and eczema10 year old son - no allergies

I see you also have a 7 yr old daughter w same life threatening food allergies, asthma, and eczema. My daughter's eczema is so bad sometimes, I don't even know what causes it sometimes. What do you do for treatment if you have it under control.

I would like to share that we finally found a sunscreen that doesn't make her skin break out, we ordered it online "Blue Lizard".

Hi Rhonda,
Her eczema was really bad as an infant but has gradually improved. In the last year, we have barely had any flare ups. I am not sure what the difference is but here are a few things we do:
- wear 100% cotton or mostly cotton clothes
- use fragance free laundry detergent and no dryer sheets
- we use a mild soap for her skin - right now we just changed to Dove Sensitive skin
- I wash her bedding regularly
- she has regular baths and we moisturize right after bath - just patting dry - we use vaseline petroleum jelly - it has worked the best for her. Regular bathing and moisturizing worked the best when she was an infant and had severe flare ups.
- we use cortisone for flare ups.
- keep finger nails short - so she can't hurt her skin when scratching
I think that is mostly it.
We use Umbrelle sunscreen and it doesn't bother her.
Good luck,
Kate

_________________13 year old daughter -- lives with life-threatening allergies to milk, tree nuts and peanuts; seasonal allergies (birch, maple, ragweed); pet allergies; asthma; and eczema10 year old son - no allergies

Does anyone know if the H1N1 vaccine is cultured in egg? My kids are both allergic to egg, and I'm now unsure if they should get the vaccine. They have never had any flu shots in the past, so I'm unable to gauge a reaction from those, which I've heard are also cultured in egg. Thanks.

Anit-virals tret the infecttion and there are two. Tamiflu is egg-free and Relenza contains egg protein. So there is something that the egg-allergic individual can take.

Meanwhile, Dr. Scott Halperin, a vaccinologist from Dalhousie University in Halifax, hopes to get ethics approval to test the assumption it is unsafe to give people with egg allergies flu shots in a federally funded research network.
http://www.healthzone.ca/health/news/ca ... o-the-test

Thanks Susan. So, have you given your egg-allergic daughter vaccines cultured in egg? If so, any negative response? Do you plan to vaccinate her against H1N1?

My son seems to respond badly to regular colds. DD will get a cold from preschool, then infect him. She responds with the typical runny nose, cough, etc, then is fine in a couple of days. He, on the other hand, gets a pretty high fever, vomits for about a day, and sometimes get wheezy. The allergist and family Dr have both said wheezing is nothing to worry about when there is a chest infection, and that it doesn't indicate asthma, but I'm worried about how he will react to a bad flu. So, my hope had been to vaccinate him this year for H1N1 and/or regular flu (I haven't researched it and don't know if it's combined, or ??).

We gave her the MMR when she was younger because as the Pediatrician stated, the benefits outweighed the risks.

We stayed in the office for 30 minutes (eep!) and there was a hospital across the street.

We don't typically give her the regular flu vaccine, both my husband and I get it. Would we give her the H1N1 vaccine if it was offered? No, but I would closely monitor any flu like symptoms. The Tamiflu anti-viral would be my preferred route.

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